


We'll Get It Next Time

by TaurusRising



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Grief/Mourning, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25400278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaurusRising/pseuds/TaurusRising
Summary: Severus follows Draco while stuck between worlds.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Severus Snape
Kudos: 31





	We'll Get It Next Time

**Author's Note:**

> This could be seen as a sequel to "The Ones Who Leave Us", but you don't have to read that one to understand this one.

Severus Snape did not make it directly to the afterlife. Of course, he realized, these things were rarely immediate. His time would come to move on eventually, and he would be ready. Not that this was new to him. His life, after all, had been a purgatory.

Severus did not achieve a corporeal form as a ghost. He was more of an entity. He drifted a bit aimlessly at first just waiting for something, anything, to change. Meandering through Diagon Alley on a biting Autumn day, he suddenly spotted a platinum blond head ducking out of Ollivanders. Severus willed his essence forward toward the retreating form of Draco Malfoy. He seemed to glow amongst the nondescript crowd, a Byzantine halo atop his heavenly form. As Severus neared him, Draco stopped and turned around, seemingly ready to confront someone. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he continued on his way.

Severus followed Draco all the way back to the Manor. He kept his distance though, because somehow Draco seemed sensitive to his presence. Draco had just gotten a new wand to replace his old one, and he was locked in his bedroom trying first-year charms on his numerous travel souvenirs. Severus could watch him forever. His luminescent wrist peeking out from his dark sleeve as he performed the motions, his long and slender fingers loosely draped around the wood, his heart-shaped mouth forming the words and curling upwards in triumph. Draco's natural ability shone through as always. A swell of pride warmed Severus' energy and extended it into the room. At this Draco stopped and stared directly at the corner Severus had placed himself in. Severus moved forward ever so slightly. Draco gasped. His heart rate increased. He dropped his wand. That's enough then. Don't want to terrify the boy. Draco collected his wand and hurried from the room.

The next few weeks followed a similar pattern. Severus followed Draco, testing the limits on how close he could come to him. He could have lied and said that watching the boy was just something to fill the time until he got called to the afterlife, but why lie when one was beyond all that nonsense? The truth was that Severus enjoyed seeing Draco react to him. After all, he was beautifully receptive. As Severus closed in on him, Draco would tense up minutely. No one in the room would notice, but Severus would. Then as he edged a little closer, Draco would withdraw into himself. He would get lightheaded. A few times, when Draco hadn't excused himself from the room by this point, Severus would caress his lips, his cheeks, his hair. Draco would begin to shiver. If only Severus could have done this in life, how justly rewarded he would have been for such a tortuous existence. If he could have found in his rooms each night a radiant and ethereal Draco Malfoy, he would have reconsidered a lot. Perhaps not everything, but a lot. For God to have incarnated his soulmate into a boy student twenty years his junior after his fate was already sealed...this knowledge was a Hell beyond all nightmares. Lily was an ideal. Draco was Draco.

One rainy night found Draco practicing in the study. He charmed sheets of foiled paper on the desk to fold themselves into birds and fly about the room. He bade them dance about like butterflies and dive-bomb each other like muggle fighter jets. With a muttered _Incendio,_ they turned to ashes on the Persian carpet. Severus felt a rush of affection at this display. This was truly Draco. That he was beginning to resemble his old self after all the terrible things he had gone through was cause for rejoice. Severus' essence expanded, and a small book loosened itself and fell off of the shelf onto the floor. Draco looked over at it and smiled.

The next day was overcast, and Draco made his way to the courtyard. He stood by a dried up fountain while the breeze swirled dead leaves around his feet. He seemed to be bracing himself, staring off into space for quite a while. Finally he raised his wand. "Expecto Patronum!" But nothing happened. He straightened, took a deep breath, and said quietly to himself, "When Severus said I stewed my slugs perfectly. When Severus picked me to duel Potter. When Severus put his hand on my back in class. When Severus defended me for the cursed necklace. When Severus sang to me while I died on the bathroom floor..." These and countless other recollections fell from his lips as his chest heaved and his eyes shimmered. Then finally a spectacular silver doe burst forth from his wand. _My doe._ Draco fell to his knees, broken, "I wish you were with me." _Oh but Draco, I am._ The courtyard filled with a brilliant light. With his last ounce of will, Severus spoke into the ether, "In the next life, Draco." And he smiled.


End file.
